A massive book, over 500 pages of body text in small print, and another 100 pages of notes and references, it tells the personal stories of a number of British administrators, soldiers, professionals, missionaries, adventurers, writers and travellers, and others in the Indian subcontinent. Through their stories, one gets a glimpse into the complex and variegated motivations and ideas of these persons, their different ways of relating to a new culture and people, and how all this has contributed to the state of the subcontinent today. Perhaps the most poignant are the stories of those who came to see this land as their own home, and the dilemmas of those left stranded between two worlds as empire gave way to the era of independence. A huge and absorbing tale (which has taken me a correspondingly substantial time to get through!), ably recounted by one of the best writers of the genre. ( )

David Gilmour in painstaking detail and readable prose presents the social history of the Raj in India. He befitting an historian without prejudice describes a range of Biritsh bureaucrats, military personnel of all ranks, mensahibs and civilians who stamped for two milennial the infrastructure of Colonial India under the British Empire. His narrative is extensive but not witout humor. I enjoyed the book which offered a balanced view of Britain’s contributions as we look at India now as another Asian economic power. ( )

A panoramic social history of all those who called India home during the age of Empire, lasting 300 years - their motivations for going and experiences while there, covering every aspect of their varied lives - a truly staggering work of research, then marshalling the facts to conjure a whole series of vivid and revealing sketches and anecdotes. David Gilmour does not seek to make judgements about the rights and wrongs of Britain's involvement in India - the facts are presented and readers can reach their own conclusions. ( )